About Me

Tuesday, 22 January 2013

I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles

A few days
ago my mail from the Equalities Commission told me about its latest tranche of
guidance. This related to employment in
the public sector. It brought together
the many and various aspects of the 2010 Equalities legislation to ensure that
the relevant information and advice had been given.

There were
130 pages of it, which may not sound a problem.
But most of this was quite generalised and discursive material
indicating the areas to be considered and some of the principles that were
essential to the legislation. It was
short on detail and specifics apart from a few obvious examples.

The rest is
not left to the imagination or discretion.
Some of it is left to the Human Resources people and others to put into
effect. However, a very great deal is
left to the lawyers and all the panoply of the legal and tribunal systems to
spell out as all the many and differing cases come to light.

The
document is available on Word download from the Equalities Commission and is
readable enough. It takes no longer to
get through than one of those short novelettes of high literature that are
popular with the chattering classes.

Encountering
this, the thought was what stance might be taken? There is all the ideology, ethics, philosophy
and the rest attached to Equality and Human Rights. Then there is the politics of it and allied
to that the implications for education and a lot of other things.

Avoiding
all that, what might be the reaction of your average person in some sort of
management function in the public sector who was going to be lumbered with
administering this, explaining it to both the subordinates and those at higher
decision making levels, whether staff or politicians?

Given the
extent and complexity of other employment legislation and provisions that have
come into being, it is not just trying to make the best of a very difficult
job. It is almost impossible to estimate
or guess at what could happen, why and with what consequences.

Near forty
years ago, experience of the then Health and Safety Act bad enough. Our politicians were reluctant to accept the
advice of our Legal people to put in place the relevant structures. There was no hurry they said.

My boss did
not want to upset them. He then found
himself in court charged with a breach of the Act where the Chairman of the
Magistrates was one the politicians insisting on deferring any decisions or
making arrangements. He had the
privilege of being among the first to be charged.

Inevitably,
they were all anxious to find someone else to blame. It was not clearly explained to them was the
excuse. But it was, our legal people
were good and had explained things with brutal simplicity.

In the
meantime we were scrambling around trying to sort out the employees on the
subject, precious few of whom liked the implications. We were not helped by the trade unions which
were thoroughly obstructive, despite being the ones responsible for demanding
the Act in the first place.

That was
then and it was comparatively simple and with much clearer legislation and
guidance. Looking at the all the recent
material that has poured out and adding both what is following on and some of
the decisions arising trying to manage and operate a public service is now a
legal and administrative minefield.

What is
worse is that then a lot of people around had been in the military and were
used to getting on with things and sorting it out as you went where
necessary. Today, all are infected by
the modern management virus and too many are unable either to decide or to organise
without going round all the houses.

What is
alarming is the sheer burden of work and complexity embedded in all this and
more to the point the related costs.
Quite seriously it looks as though the public sector will be spending so
much time on dealing with its own problems and looking after its own staff that
there will be little or no time to actually run the services.

It is all
too possible that running the public sector on this basis is impossible.